Friday, August 14, 2009

And we're one third through it!

I am so excited that neurology is over! Tonight J and I and a bunch of med school peeps are headed downtown to Great Divide Brewing Co. for their release party for two new beers. It should be a lot of fun. I'll take pictures and for once maybe I'll post them!

To leave everyone on a fun note, since I promise I didn't actually hate neurology, I have a great patient story, two actually.

#1: I walked into the patient's room (one who was admitted for altered mental status and what was starting to look like a possible dementia) and asked how the patient was doing that morning. Patient says: "I'm great doc. Ask away, I'm ready to think!"

#2: A patient came in after losing consciousness. He was in a coma. This was the third time he'd been in this year. He continually was stopping his insulin and skipping dialysis, having a seizure, going to the hospital, getting righted and heading home. Not the fun part. The good part is what his daughters did the last time he came in. He had a small stroke and couldn't really remember anything afterward. So what did his daughers do? He asked for a cigarette and they told him he quit smoking 3 years ago. He couldn't remember so he just believed them. And quit smoking cold turkey.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Neuro...so/so

Well, the final verdict is, I didn't completely hate it, but I sure don't like it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to walk in this morning and my patient will have died. This is not a rarity in neuro unfortunately. Brain tumors are not good news.

But, I don't have to love everything. And in fact, I'm relieved that I don't! Looking at how I feel about neuro (and if I'm honest, inpatient medicine in general) it makes me feel certain that by the end of the year I'll know for sure what I want to do. More and more often I think that something is OB/Gyn. The lifestyle scares the crap out of me. But not all residency programs are as scary as the one I did my rotation at. I think a small community program might just be ok. I still have a lot of thinking about it to do. And I still love psych. Also, I have two weeks of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation coming up, and that sounds pretty fun too! I can't rule that one out either.

I was able to be the first assist on an oophorectemy (I helped my preceptor remove an ovary) and I haven't felt that excited about a piece of medicine for months. I think it might be a sign. I know I can choose anything I want, especially because I have such a supportive hubs. And residency won't last forever, so it's silly for me to choose something that has an "easier" residency but that I like less. Lots to think about I guess.

But, next week is vacay! I will write more later, but for now, it's back to the wards. TWO MORE DAYS!!!!!!